
Art 180 opens residency applications
Young Richmond-area artists who want to polish their portfolios while in high school have a new opportunity to do so, courtesy of ART 180 and its Atlas Artist Residency. Applications for the nextAtlas Artists are now open for students in the 9th, 10th and 11th grade. The program will provide 10 students an eight-week residency over the summer, which will in- clude materials, studio space and a stipend of $1,350. The students’ residency will finish with a public exhibition of their work. Applications will be accepted until Thursday, March 16. Links to apply or more information can be found at www.art180.org/ student-artist-residency.

VCU heads to New York as No.1 seed for A-10 championship
VCU has been chewing up the competition of late, but it’s still hungry for more. Now it yearns to take a juicy bite out of the Big Apple.

Losing streak mars NSU’s MEAC entry
In another week or so, Norfolk State will either be kicking up its heels at the NCAA Big Dance, or dejectedly asking, “What if?”

RPS superintendent’s chief of staff resigns
Michelle Hudacsko, chief of staff for Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras, has resigned.

Bagby wins ‘firehouse’ primary in quest for Senate seat
Henrico Delegate Lamont Bagby has made a fast start in his quest to succeed Jennifer L. McClellan in the state Senate.

Panthers lose CIAA tourney to Rams 45-44
VUU awaits NCAA II decision after lowest scoring game in annals
Heading north on I-95, it took Virginia Union University’s bus about two hours and 35 minutes to reach Baltimore, site of the CIAA basketball tournament. It probably felt like a lot longer coming back.

All adjourned
Lawmakers end session with lean budget and no mention of casino
Richmond casino advocates rejoiced as the General Assembly adjourned without blocking the city’s authority to hold a second referendum in November on whether the state’s capital city should host a casino-resort.

Art meets dance in Carpenter Theatre ballet
Expect to see art in a whole new way when the James River Valley Chapter of The Links brings Columbia City Ballet’s “Off the Wall and Onto the Stage: Dancing the Art of Jonathan Green” to Richmond’s Carpenter Theatre at Dominion Energy Center on March 10.

Chicago Mayor Lightfoot ousted; Vallas, Johnson in runoff
Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson will meet in a runoff to be the next mayor of Chicago after voters denied incumbent Lori Lightfoot a second term, issuing a rebuke to a leader who made history as head of the nation’s third largest city.

Personality: Scottessa A. Hurte
Spotlight on Metropolitan Business League board chair
Scottessa A. Hurte has been a source of aid and guidance for Virginia’s small, women and minority-owned businesses during years of struggle.

Karl E. Bren, housing advocate, dies at 78
Tennessee transplant Karl Ellis Bren is being remembered for his influence and impact on affordable housing, environmental policy and homelessness during his 38 years in Richmond.

Mr. & Mrs. Stoney
Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney and Brandy Washington were married last week, according to various news sources.

Virginia Supreme Court approves ‘Waverly Two’ appeal
The Supreme Court of Virginia has approved a hearing for an appeal that could lead to the exoneration of a Sussex County man sentenced to life in jail for a murder he was acquitted of decades earlier.

Embattled RPS employee continues fight for her job
A 14-year Richmond Public Schools teacher and social worker is battling a second attempt to fire her — this time for failing to show up to work in a position that apparently never was offered to her.

Youngkin’s schools chief resigns after department missteps
Jillian Balow, Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s superintendent of public instruction, announced her resignation Wednesday in a letter to the governor that did not offer a specific reason for her departure.

Florida is latest battleground for war on education, by Svante Myrick
It’s been a few weeks since a mess started boiling over in Florida with the rollout of the new AP African-American Studies course, and no one involved is looking good: not the state Department of Education, not the College Board, and definitely not Gov. Ron DeSantis, who blasted the course publicly and pressured the College Board to water it down.

Courage, by Dr. E. Faye Williams
War is inhumane! War is madness! In a world of ra- tional thinkers, war should be unnecessary! Historically, war has been the exercise of national power, authority and autonomy in the circumstance of irreconcilable difference — or the reaction to it. As with many other past conflicts, the world’s current war is the result of an irreconcilable difference conceived in the mind of an ego-stricken madman — “Fighting to be Heard” Vladimir Putin.

Emergency communications graduates 13 dispatchers to improve services
More dispatchers have joined Richmond’s 911 staff, reducing vacancies in a critical element of public safety.

Encore puts Henrico government retirees back to work
Henrico is launching a program to entice dozens of its retired county government employees to return to temporary, part-time positions to address critical staffing needs in public safety and mental health.